370,000 refugees have now fled Myanmar amid accusations of ethnic cleansing

THE NUMBER of Rohingya refugees who have fled violence in Myanmar has soared to about 370,000, according to the UN refugee agency.

The new estimate is more than 50,000 higher than Monday’s figure after aid agencies reached “more villages, hamlet and pockets where refugees have gathered” in Bangladesh. The UN has accused Myanmar of carrying out deliberate ethnic cleansing to drive the Muslims, a persecuted minority, out of the largely Buddhist country.

Thousands of ethnic Rohingya Muslims have been arriving daily by foot across the swampy border as well as by rickety wooden boats travelling on wild seas since violence erupted on August 25 in Myanmar.

The influx has left Bangladesh’s refugee camps reeling. The UNHCR said it was flying in two shipments of aid materials including jerry cans, blankets, sleeping mats and shelter materials.

It said the goods would help 25,000 refugees at packed refugee camps in Bangladesh’s border district of Cox’s Bazar. More airlifts are planned in coming days.

The update came as the Bangladeshi prime minister visited a struggling refugee camp that has absorbed some of the influx.

Sheikh Hasina demanded that Myanmar “take steps to take their nationals back”, and pledged temporary aid until that happens.

“We will not tolerate injustice,” she said at a rally at the Kutupalong refugee camp, near the border town of Ukhiya.

On Monday night, she condemned Myanmar for “atrocities” she said had reached a level beyond description, noting that Bangladesh had long been protesting against the persecution of the Rohingya.

The UN human rights chief said Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein attacked Myanmar for its “complete denial of reality”.

“The government should stop pretending that the Rohingya are setting fire to their own homes and laying waste to their own villages,” he said.